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Super Bowl History Part 3Superbowl XXV Through Superbowl XXXII |
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 Super
Bowl History continues with the years of dominance by the National
Football Conference.In these years, the NFC was considered the much better conference, with better defenses and more ground-oriented offenses. This trend is no doubt obscured by the inclusion of the San Francisco 49ers and their West Coast Offense, because the Niners won more games than any team in this era. The AFC, in the meantime, was relegated to the reputation it had during the AFL days, as a league with high-powered passing offenses who couldn't compete with the more traditional football teams in the big games. Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly were representative of the AFC in these days, along with Warren Moon and the Run-and-Shoot offense of the Houston Oilers (though the Oilers never made it to the Super Bowl). In reality, only a few teams dominated this era. The 49ers won 5 Super Bowls, while the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins each won 3. The New York Giants won 2. It might be said that the tough NFC East dominated the football of this age, except the San Francisco 49ers won more titles than any of those teams and had 16 straight regular seasons with 10 or more wins. Whatever the case, the NFC won Superbowls year after year, and usually by a wide margin. This continued long enough that everyone in America naturally assumed the NFC Champion would win the Super Bowl, an assumption that continued all the way up to the Denver Broncos (a team underrated because of this notion) upset the defending champion Green Bay Packers in 1998. But that is the next phase of our story. For now, let's return to the 1990-1991 season. Super Bowl XXV
The 1990 New York Giants were the epitome of a veteran team, as their aging core of former Super Bowl champs (Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Mark Bavaro) were joined by aging veterans from around the league (Otis Anderson, Everson Walls). With this line-up, the Giants went 10-0 to start the season. Unfortunately, the 2-time World Champion San Francisco 49ers also went 10-0 to start the season. Though the Giants appeared a tough out for the upcoming playoffs, the Niners remained the odds-on favorite to three-peat in Super Bowl XXV. A close Week 12 defeat of the Giants by the Joe Montana-led 49ers seemed to confirm the impression. The Giants turned the tables in the NFC Championship Game in Candlestick Park, knocking Joe Montana out of the game and harrying Steve Young in the final quarter of the game. The were installed as a small favorite in the Super Bowl, due to their tough defense and their championship pedigree. Phil Sims missed the Super Bowl due to injury and was replaced by Jeff Hostetler. Hostetler gave the Giants a scrambling quarterback that added something to the Giants offense, though he was not as reliable as the Sims. Because of Sims's absence, some gave the edge to the Buffalo Bills, though Hostetler had led the Giants to their win over the Niners. Many believed the Buffalo Bills were the more talented ballclub. The Bills employed a "no huddle" offense that kept teams in the AFC off-balance. Jim Kelly was a star quarterback coming into his own, while Andre Reed was one of the most dangerous receivers in the league. Thurman Thomas was an all-purpose back and a nightmare for defenders, because linebackers had no change of keeping up with the speedy Thurman Thomas when he (often) ran patterns out of the backfield. On defense, the Buffalo Bills were led by Hall of Fame right defensive end, Bruce Smith, one of the best pass rushers of his generation. Cornelius Bennett was another standout at linebacker. In a hard-fought contest that was close all the way through and featured several lead changes, the New York Giants took a late 20-19 lead on a field goal. The Bills, led by Thurman Thomas (who would have been MVP in case of a Bills win), drove down the field late in the game. Scott Norwood, the Buffalo Bills kicker, missed a late field goal that would have won the game for the Bills. Note that this game was played during the Gulf War, which had began 11 days earlier on January 16, 1991. Many feared a terrorist attack on the Super Bowl, but the game instead was a resounding success and a patriotic showpiece. Super Bowl XXVI
The Buffalo Bills came into the season on a mission to win the Super Bowl that had narrowly eluded them the year before. Once again, they were the easy winners in the AFC, easily sweeping aside their opponents in the playoffs after a 13-3 regular season. Joe Gibbs had once again retooled his Washington Redskins into a championship contender, installing Mark Rypien as his third starting quarterback to lead a Gibbs team to a Super Bowl. The Redskins went 11-0 to start the season, losing to the rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 12. Earnest Byner, infamous for his fumble against the Broncos while a Cleveland Browns RB, added solidity to the Redskins ground game. Gerald Riggs added a larger runner to the mix. Darrell Green, Charles Mann and Wilber Marshall were the veteran core of the Redskins defense. The game got off to an inauspicious start for Thurman Thomas, who was a star for the Bills in Superbowl XXV. Thomas lost his helmet just prior to the Buffalo Bills first possession. This was emblematic of the day to come for the Bills. The Washington Redskins scored the first 24 points of the game and the Bills never recovered. Two late Jim Kelly touchdown passes cut the final score to 37-24, but the game was not nearly that close. Joe Gibbs would celebrate one final Super Bowl victory before retiring in the offseason, while the Buffalo Bills would have to wait another year for a chance to win the elusive Lombardi Trophy. Super Bowl XXVII
The Bills had engineered the biggest comeback in playoff history in their wildcard game, coming from down 35-3 to force an overtime and win the game on a field goal. After running through two more AFC opponents, many viewed them as a team of destiny. The Dallas Cowboys were the NFL's youngest team and many felt they had made the big game a year too early. The Boys had defeated the vaunted San Francisco 49ers in a spirited NFC Championship Game, defeating the team that many felt was the best in the NFL. Every knew the Cowboys had the best young talent in the league, but wondered if their talent would overcome the three-time AFC champs' experience. Jimmy Johnson's unit had been 1-15 only three years previously. The Buffalo Bills got off to a solid start. They forced the Cowboys to a 3-and-out on their first possession, then blocked a punt to set up a Thurman Thomas touchdown. The Bills stopped the Cowboys on their second drive, and were driving downfield when the wheels came off. Jim Kelly threw an interception, which set up an Aikman to Novacek touchdown. Fifteen seconds and another Kelly turnover later, the Cowboys were up 14-7. Kelly would be knocked out of the game on the next drive. Eventually, the Bills would have 9 turnovers and the Dallas Cowboys won the game 52-17. Superbowl XXVII became the coming out party for the Team of the Nineties. Super Bowl XXVIII
The Dallas Cowboys won the NFC, once again defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game (in the Three Inch Headlines game). Everyone expected the Dallas Cowboys to roll over the Buffalo Bills again, despite the Bills defeating the Cowboys in Texas Stadium in the regular season (when Emmitt Smith was in a holdout). The Bills therefore shocked the nation when they came out strong, leading the game 13-6 at halftime. But turnovers hurt the Bills in the second half, while Emmitt Smith and the huge Dallas offensive line dominated the Bills defense. On one 64-yard drive in the second half, Emmitt Smith ran the ball on 7 of the 8 plays on the drive. In the end, the Dallas Cowboys became the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion since the 49ers some five years earlier. Six weeks after the game, Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson had their divorce. The Dallas Cowboys owner and the Dallas Cowboys head coach both wanted credit for the last 5 years, and so the owner ushered the two-time defending Superbowl coach out the door. Super Bowl XXIX
The 1994 NFL Season was the first year of unrestricted free agency and the salary cap. The Niners, tired of losing to the Dallas Cowboys, were by far the most aggressive team in the first year of free agency. The team recognized its weakness on defense and added several star players, including Deion Sanders and Gary Plummer, as well as former Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Ken Norton Jr. With this unit, the San Francisco 49ers were the NFC's best team. The two-time defending champion Cowboys, having lost Jimmy Johnson and added Barry Switzer at head coach, remained the NFC's second best team in the regular season. The two teams met in the NFC title game for a record third time in a row, and this time the Niners won (38-28) and the Cowboys made the most mistakes. Meanwhile, the San Diego Chargers were putting together a dark horse campaign in the AFC. Tough-minded head coach Bobby Ross led his club to the big game, though the team was the underdog in the AFC Championship Game against the Bill Cowher-led Pittsburgh Steelers. The San Diego Chargers' quarterback was Stan Humphries, while their offensive stars were RB Natrone Means and WR Tony Martin. Junior Seau was the leader on defense, though Leslie O'Neil and Chris Mims were standouts on the d-line. DBs Stanley Richard and Darrien Gordon provided big plays, while Rodney Harrison was a rookie. In all, the Chargers had 10 new starters from the season before. None of this was enough to overcome the San Francisco 49ers, one of the most talented clubs of the decade. Steve Young threw a touchdown to Jerry Rice on the Niners first drive and the rout was on. The final score was 49-26, though the score probably wasn't that close. The 9ers were impressive enough that their two coordinators, Mike Shanahan and Ray Rhodes, became NFL head coaches in the offseason. Shanahan would lead the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl only two years later. Super Bowl XXX
The Dallas Cowboys returned to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. The Pittsburgh Steelers got to the game they narrowly missed out on the previous year, when a Neil O'Donnell interception ended a late comeback drive against the Chargers in the AFC Championship Game. The Dallas Cowboys were determined to get back to the big game, and Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, was determined to prove he could win a Super Bowl without Jimmy Johnson. Their team was beginning to show signs of age and attrition due to free agency, but it was likely still the best collection of talent in the league. The 1995 NFL Season got off to a big start when Jerry Jones signed free agent Deion Sanders to a huge contract just prior to the season opener. The Pittsburgh Steelers looked like many traditional Steeltown teams, with a strong running game and a bruising defense. But the Steelers were actually on the cutting edge of NFL football in the 1990's. Bill Cowher and Steelers defensive coordinator, Dick Lebeau, were champions of a new defensive scheme, the Zone Blitz. The Zone Blitz brought blitzers from unpredictable parts of the field, while sometimes placing non-traditional pass defenders like defensive linemen in the pass routes. These players would simply drop back into zone pass coverage schemes, hoping that the element of surprise and pressure on the quarterback protected these weak pass defenders. This scheme had made the Steelers the class of the AFC the past two years, despite their defeat by the Chargers in the 1995 playoffs. With pass rushers like Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene were among the league leaders in sacks, while Rod Woodson and Carnell Lake were stars in the defensive backfield. Erric Pegram and Bam Morris shared carries on offense, leading the Pittsburgh offensive running attack. Many expected the Dallas Cowboys, with stars like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, to easily win the game. But the Zone Blitz often forces offensive linemen to move along the line to make a block, and this played havoc with the Dallas Cowboys' huge offensive line. Also, Charles Haley was suffering from chronic back troubles at this point in his career, so the Dallas pass rush was greatly weakened from this fact. The Cowboys led 20-7, but the Pittsburgh Steelers mounted a comeback. They kicked a field goal after a long drive, then got the ball back on an onside kick. A second drive ended with a Bam Morris touchdown run, closing the gap to 20-17. When the Cowboys punted on their next possession, it appeared they were on their heels and perhaps their defense was wilting. But Neil O'Donnell threw an interception two plays into that drive, setting the Cowboys up on the Steelers 3-yard line. A second O'Donnell interception, once again to Larry Brown, ended any hopes the Steelers had. Pittsburgh outgained Dallas in the game, and had 10 more first downs in the game. But the Dallas Cowboys celebrated their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years, something no other team had done. NFL football fans (outside of Dallas) were getting tired of the Cowboys' antics, which would boil over in the offseason with several Michael Irvin scandals. Super Bowl XXXI
Brett Favre was putting up big passing totals and the Pack made the playoffs for three years running, but they continued to get knocked out by the Dallas Cowboys every year. The 1996 NFL Season ended all that. The Packers had knocked the Niners out of the playoffs the year previously, and they had played the Cowboys tough in the NFC Championship Game. Mike Holmgren's team was on a mission this season and they were the best team in the regular season. This meant anyone in the NFC beating the Packers would have to do it in Lambeau Field. The Green Bay Packers defeated the 49ers again in the playoffs. Most assumed they would face the Dallas Cowboys in the title game, but instead faced the upstart Carolina Panthers when the Panthers defeated the Cowboys in the 2nd round of the playoffs. In the AFC, Bill Parcells was completing a miraculous resurrection of the New England Patriots franchise. Parcells had taken over a 1-15 team only a few years prior. Coaching Drew Bledsoe to become a winning quarterback and drafting Curtis Martin to be the team's workhorse, Parcells turned Patriots into a contender. There were problems between Parcells and Pats owner, Bob Kraft, especially after Parcells was overruled when the team drafted Terry Glenn in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. Everyone knew that Bill Parcells was leaving the team after the Super Bowl. Brett Favre got the scoring started early and the Green Bay Packers kept a healthy distance between them and the Patriots throughout the game, despite a shootout of a game. Reggie White logged 3 sacks of Drew Bledsoe. Desmond Howard had 244 all-purpose yards and a touchdown, mostly on kick and punt returns. To read about how the Green Bay Packers narrowly missed repeating as World Champions, read our article at Super Bowl History Part 4. More Football Resources |
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The
Given
their experience in big names, the Buffalo Bills were the favorite
heading into Super Bowl XXVII.
Superbowl
XXVIII became the first game which was a rematch of the previous
years' game. The Buffalo Bills won the AFC for the fourth
consecutive year.
The
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